The painting shows a scene from the legendary tale of Saint George - the heroic and chivalrous knight said to have rescued a princess from her fate as sacrifice to a ferocious and insatiable dragon.
The portrayal of this scene is unusual. Other paintings of the legend focus mainly on Saint George, but the story here begins with the princess and moves backwards and upwards into the painting. Terrified, she stumbles away out of the picture towards us. Behind her lies the corpse of one of the dragon's previous victims. The figure of God, blessing the saint, appears in the sky above.
'Saint George and the Dragon' was made as an altarpiece. Its relatively small size and unusual presentation suggest that it was made for a private chapel, perhaps in a Venetian palace.
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